Live This Life

Summary:
Sequel to I Need You to Love Me. It is strongly recommended that you read that first or else you won't know half the characters. She doesn't own a dress, and her hair is always a mess. If you catch her stealing, she won't confess. She's beautiful. Here she is again on the phone. Just like me, she hates to be alone. We just like to sit at home. Well she wants to live her life, then she thinks about her "life". Pulls her hair back as she screams, "I don't really wanna be the queen, I--I don't really wanna live this life.

Notes:
Well she wants to be the queen, and she thinks about her scene. Wells she wants to live her life, and she thinks about her life. Pulls her hair back as she screams, "I don't really want to be the queen. I don't really want to live this life." As always, it belongs to SM, except for the summary. those are the lyrics to change your mind by all-american rejects.

3. Chapter 3--What Kinda Gone

Alec, Demetri and Gabriel returned the stone towers of Voltera to the loudest argument that they had ever heard. Surprisingly, it was not between members of the guard, but among the masters. That was queer. It was rare that they fought so openly, so loudly, so…crudely. Alec instantly recognized the sorrowfully melodic voice of Master Marcus’s mate. Emaelia. She was born in the twentieth century and still her mother had named her that. Marucs refused to let the guard call her by her nickname, claiming it was disrespectful, and Alec whole-heartedly agreed. Though young, she had somehow managed to capture the cold vampires heart and she held it firmly. She did not care about propriety and station the way the other wives did, but Alec supposed that she was slowly coming around.

“How dare you let her leave! What gives you the right? You have not only endangered this coven, but staked our entire world on your feelings! You have ruined us, woman!” Caius was screaming at the top of his lungs.

Alec and Demetri shared a look. Their speed increased tenfold as they rushed to the throne. Master Caius and Mistress Emaelia stood the elevated tier where the thrones stood, glowing magnificently in the beams of sunlight. Caius towered over Emaelia, the short girl’s head barely came up to his shoulders, but she looked incredibly intimidating as she stood there, hands balled up so tight that Alec was sure her nails would cut straight into her bones, and her hair flowing in an invisible current around her, violet eyes ablaze.

“How dare I? H OW DARE I? May I remind you who exactly she reported to? I gave her permission to go! I trust her! She won’t betray us! So get out of my face!”

“You might trust her, but the rest of us don’t! She was always a slippery little twit! She was just telling you what you wanted to hear so that you would let her leave! Your idiocy astounds me!”

“You don’t trust her because you trust no one. Not even your precious wife! Gia did what was best for her!” Emaelia screeched.

Alec just about fell over in a feint. What had Gia done? Hopefully it was nothing that was worthy of a strict punishment. Mistress Emaelia seemed to support his mate, and she suddenly held great sway with the masters, perhaps because she was so vocal and forceful of her opinions, and the wives all tended to rally behind her. With a ferocious snarl, she pulled her hand back. Caius saw it coming and moved to block the slap. Emaelia surprised them all when she gave him a hard jab to the nose. Caius pulled back, swearing.

“Still think you’re right?” Emaelia screamed at him.

Out of the corner of his eye, Alec watched Gabriel jab Demetri in the ribs. The unruly vampire raised his eyebrows suggestively and grin in mirth. Much to Adrianna’s chagrin, Gabriel seemed to be smitten with the newest addition to the coven. Marcus was infuriated, but his mate blushed and laughed it off. Alec thought that she was too proud for her own good.

“Violence proves only insolence and lack of proof! You just demonstrated to me that you are not fit to be a member of the guard, let alone the Volturi, and that your judgement concerning this matter is obtuse and incorrect! I shall speak to Marcus about you!”

“Go ahead!” Lady Emaelia yelled.

“I shall send Demetri after that foolish girl and have him destroy her!” Caius threatened.

Alec felt like he had been stabbed in the stomach. Fear as well as anger welled up inside him as he longed to lash out at the master. He refused to let Demetri find her or harm her. Not before he was able to find her and figure out what had happened so suddenly to make her run away. She had seemed to content the past few years. Alec was sure that only something drastic could have caused her disloyalty. If he managed to convince Demetri of it, he would have a chance with Aro. What had his Gia done?

Lady Emaelia seemed to feel the pain and fear that Alec had. Her eyes widened in shock. Wrath poured out of her in a new fervor. “Oh, you snot nosed, pinko-faced Commi bastard!” she screamed, spittle flying out of her mouth. It struck Caius on the face, making her rather satisfied by the one sentence. “If you do that, then so help me, I will tear you apart with my bare hands, and I can promise you that I will enjoy it!”

Fury evident in his maddened gaze, Caius struck Emaelia across the face. She reeled back in shock and pain. Though heartbroken, Alec gasped in shock. Never before had any one dared to strike a woman in the coven, but for the first offense to be against a mistress of the coven was abhorring. All of the guard who had lined the walls to watch the verbal joust fell silent in shock. It was one thing for her to strike him--and hard at that--but for a man to raise a hand against a Lady of the Volturi, even if it was a Lord of the Volturi, was an abominable offense. He did not do damage control, it was very like that Caius would face banishment.

As Lady Emaelia cupped her face, her mouth still agape in shock, Caius scrambled. He knew of the witnesses. “You struck me first,” he snarled, voice still full of anger and control. Both the Lord and Lady knew that that argument held little value. It was common for a Lady of the Volturi to use physical abuse as punishment. Previously, the wives had useless or no talents, and since they had little control over politics and affairs, it was the only means they had to express severe displeasure. Alec had heard rumors that Elicia often struck Caius in the privacy of their own rooms. For Caius to hit Emaelia was like a pediatrician purposefully murdering infants. There was no cause, no reason, and no gain.

“You son of a-”

Caius, careless now for they all knew that his reprimand would be nominal, raised his hand again. Without thinking, Alec darted forward. Just as the hand swung, an arm reached up to snag his wrist. Caius looked down as he wretched his arm free from Alec’s cold grasp. “Stand down, guard,” he ordered.

Alec glared furiously at the only master who he could say that he truly loathed. He knew that he had to obey him, yet at the same time, he knew that had to protect his master’s wife. Before he could make a decision, his mistress intervened. Lady Emaelia rolled her eyes and slapped Caius back. “Whatever happened to violence never solves anything?” she snarled.

Alec’s eyebrows shot up. Master Caius did not seem to have a retort for that.

The silence that had descended the room somehow grew even quieter. Emaelia looked at her husband with a mixture of relief and anger. She was a woman like Gia who thought that she could take care of herself and did not need a man to help things along. If there was a woman besides Gia who was capable of doing just that was the Lady. Reluctantly, Alec let go of the blonde master’s wrist. He looked down triumphantly at him. Alec fought back a snarl. He would rip him apart with his bare hands if it were possible. The bastard had threatened his Gia. He had to pay.

With even showing the slightest bit of anger, Marcus swiftly up the steps of the elevated platform. Alec was impressed. His master did not even break stride as he grabbed Caius’s collar. Lifting him easily, Marcus slammed him against the wall as inquisitive members of the guard scurried to get away from his wrath. It amazed them all that the sullen vampire could go from stoic to vengeful in less that a tenth of a second.

“Get out!” he barked at every one else in the room. All of the guards quickly scampered to obey, Alec included. However, Mistress Emaelia’s hand grabbing his wrist prevented him. That was her silent command for him to remain. He was tersely grateful. Only she seemed to know about Gia and what she was doing.

As soon as the scurry of large feet had faded, Marcus met Caius’s blood red eyes. His voice was so low that Alec had trouble distinguishing his words. Caius, however, seemed to get the menacing point easily. “If you ever touch one hair on my wife’s head again, the last thing you will feel is the pain of watching me destroy your wife before I destroy you. Do you understand me?”

Caius nodded. Alec noticed that Caius truly did seem to fear Marcus. He acted high and mighty, as if he were the supreme ruler of the coven. While Aro was the head of it, Alec believed that Marcus held much more power than anyone else realized. He was the military genius of the three, after all. With a fierce snarl, Marcus set him down. In a flash, he was beside his Lady. “Are you all right?” His hand reached up to gently cup her face.

She pushed his hand down. “I’m fine, Marcus.”

“Did he do any damage?” Marcus tried to inspect her face.

Emaelia pushed him away. “I’ve had worse before, and I’ll have worse in the future. I’m fine.” When she saw his hurt yet still concerned expression, her features and her tone softened. “Really, Marcus. I’m all right.

Caius snorted in the background. Emaelia turned around and held up her middle finger. From watching all of the human movies with Gia, Alec knew that that effectively meant eff you. Master Caius was not so enlightened.

With some exasperation, Marcus curled his hand around his wife’s fingers and gently pushed them all there. Alec was unsure if his master knew of the signal’s meaning. “Now,” Marcus said authoritatively, “Beloved, tell me what is going on? What happened to our Gia?”

Emaelia looked up at her husband with wide, innocent eyes. Even Alec almost bought the innocent doe eyed act. “What are you talking about, dearest?”

“Do not try to be coy with me, I can tell whenever you were lying. Now, tell me, what happened to cause this ruckus?”

Emaelia, unused to her mate’s gruff done, balked. “She asked to leave and I let her. That is all,”

Marcus blinked. As did every one. They all were surprised. “Why?”

“Because she asked to,” Emaelia replied.

“Why did she asked?” Marcus prodded.

“I’m not going to tell you why. All you need to know is that she wished to leave the coven, and I granted her request. I promised her that there would be no retribution or attempts to bring her back. I intend to hold to that promise,” Emaelia defended her stance. Her eyes danced with the anticipation of a fight, and the promise of revenge.

“The reason of her absence, while infuriating, is not the issue. The point is your imbecile of a wife allowed her to leave! We have a rogue vampire out there who could reveal our secrets to the entire world! This jeopardizes everything!”

“GIA WOULD NEVER DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT!” Alec yelled. All three coven heads turned to look at him. Likely, the all had forgotten his presence. He was not impenitent.

“Alec is right,” Mistress Emaelia was the first to find her voice. “I trust Gia completely. She will do the right thing,”

Alec wanted to scream at Marcus’s wife that the right thing was to keep her safe at Voltera. Why did she have to let Gia go roam around the world? Emaelia came from the chaotic place. She should have known that someone as sweet natured as Gia could not survive in that brutal, human infested place! Wisely, he kept his tongue. He did let his anger be known through his stance, posture, and through his blazing eyes.

“You promised to not tell any one if you could help it,” he told her. “I think that we all,” he gestured around the room, “fall under that category. Please, dearest. Enlighten us, if you would,”

Emaelia glanced around the room. “I refuse to tell him.” She held an accusing finger aloft as she pointed at the infuriated blonde vampire standing not ten feet away from her. “I shall tell you after he leaves,”

Marcus looked at Caius. Unbeknownst to Alec, Caius was the weakest member of the actual Volturi, and the lowest dog on the food chain. With a glare, he turned around and swept out grandly from the throne room. Emaelia rolled her eyes.

“Now,” Marcus turned to look at her with impassioned eyes. “Tell us what we want to know,”

“Or what? You’ll hit me,” Lady Emaelia scoffed. Marcus flinched. She smirked. “That’s what I thought. Alec,” she motioned for the boy to come near. Glancing at his master to make sure that it was okay, he complied. Emaelia leaned forward. Placing her hand on his shoulder, she whispered, “Gia’s transformation has reversed itself. She is becoming a human again. Rather than risk Aro’s wrath, we decided it was best if she were to leave forever.”

Alec paused for a moment. Then hysteria set in. “What?” he cried. “What the hell do you mean? That can’t be right! You have to be wrong!”

“I’m sorry, kiddo. I’m not. She had to go,”

“We could have changed her back! Or found a way to reverse the reversal! You didn’t even give her a chance!” He yelled.

“We discussed it thoroughly, Alec. I assure you. Ultimately, it was Gia’s choice to leave. She asks that you not follow her. She wants to live out the rest of her days in peace.”

Alec stopped. “The rest of her days…you mean to tell me that is dying!” he yelled.

“That is part of the human life,” Marcus gently reminded Alec. Emaelia rolled her eyes. Of course he would have the audacity to listen in on obviously private conversations. “If she does go back to being a human, then she will age and die. That is the process of life. Have you so quickly forgotten?”

“NO!” Alec yelled. “I refuse to believe it! We can stop it! We can save her! We can changed her. Please!”

“We tried to save her, Alec. We really did. But there is nothing we can do.” Emaelia gave him an infuriating pitying look.

“Obviously not! If you did, she would still be here!” he yelled.

“Watch your tone,” Marcus warned.

“Marcus,” Emaelia’s tone brokered no room for interference. “I like him, so it’s okay. But, yes Alec, I did try everything. I begged and pleaded with her to stay, but she did not want to. It was ultimately her choice, and Gia chose to leave. I ams orry that you lost your mate, but it was her choice.”

“No,” Emaelia interceded. “I promised her that no one would pursue her. She wants to simply be left alone.”

“Emaelia,” Marcus whispered, “Do you think it wise for you to speak now?”

“I do. I gave Gia my word, and I refuse to allow you to bring her back when she sobbed to me that she did not want any more of this life. She has a chance to break free of it, and I refuse to allow you to ruin it for her. Do you understand me? I forbid you all to speak of it any more.”

With that, Emaelia turned on her heel and stormed out of the room. She drug Marcus behind her.

“Master?” Alec whispered, fearfully. All Master Marcus did was shake his head. Alec had never felt so depressed in his life.